The Next Gen in Digital Film Capture: Canon’s 4K 1DC

Today, I stand on the NAB floor with my wife Lydia, CEO of Hurlbut Visuals. We both reflect on how far we have come. It was Lydia’s vision to build the educational / inspirational HURLBLOG, which passes on our collective experience and trail blazing spirit. She envisioned the innovation arm, our Master Cinema Series in conjunction with the Letus Corporation to toss gasoline on the revolutionary fire, and the Hurlbut Visuals’ creation arm that has produced the next chapter in Canon’s story. What a visionary woman.

Canon 1DC

NAB show floor

At a trade show such as NAB, you can get caught up in looking at all the camera technology, gizmos, gadgets, etc. so quickly. But the story seems to always ground me. Today, Hurlbut Visuals launches a short film written and directed by another very talented woman, Po Chan. “The Ticket” is her follow up to “The Last 3 Minutes.” Please enjoy!!!

The right tool for the job has always been my mission. Whatever camera helps tell the story, aids in character development, helps deliver emotion and transports you to a unique cinematic world for you to experience — wouldn’t you say that is the primary goal of a cinematographer?

Getting in close with the 1DC with Canon 50mm Cinema Prime with MCS action cam rig

When Canon approached me to test and shoot a short film for their new 1DC 4K DSLR, I was more than excited. This is the world that I have been trailblazing for quite some time. When the camera was delivered to Hurlbut Visuals, my Elite Team and I sent it through various tests, using what we had learned from our collective experience with the Canon 5D MK II. After the first night of testing, one word came to mind. WOW!!!

Steadicam Operator Chris McGuire operating the Steadicam with the revolution head

Close up of the revolution head

When you harness 4K into the small footprint of a 1D, give it the processing power to record to little CF cards with no external recording devices needed. Now that is where the WOW factor comes in. I can blind you with tech specs, wine and dine you with test footage, but this is not what I am about. If this unique device transports you and rivals 35mm film, then my job is done.

Everything about this camera will blow your mind. The image stands alone, with not even one competitor entering the playing field. What you are going to see on the web will never do this camera justice. You need to run out, knock down doors and demand screenings of this camera on a 4K Sony or Barco projector. I have walked up to 6 inches from the screen, and you cannot see a pixel. If there were only one booth, you could visit this week, that booth would be Canon. This is a company that I believe in, not because they make the best DSLRs in the world, but because they are coming from R & D that is about replicating film, not HD video. This is a big difference. Canon is delivering DIGITAL FILM, now in 4K, and in this creation, they combined both divisions – Video and DLSR. So you are getting the collective brain power of two huge engineering monoliths. This is a big step for Canon.

This is as Techie as I get

Out of the gate, the camera functions just like a 5D, 1D. It uses the same menus, and it is easy to navigate. You can save all your favorites and settings on a CF card and pass them from camera to camera. It records 23.98 at 4K at a size bigger than super 35, which gives you a shallower depth of field. It has a mirroring function so that you can view the back LCD screen, as well as an external EVF or monitor. 4GB equals 1 minute of 4K. Lexar cards that process at 1000 mb/s, UDMA 7 are the only things that can capture this baby. 60p at 1080 Full frame sensor, so you gain all the benefits that the 5D’s full frame sensor gave you. Rolling shutter was less apparent. Moire did not exist. Picture styles are like on the 5D, so you can go in there and make your own.

Canon Log was one of the most exciting functions of the 1DC. At 400 ISO, it will give you a dynamic range of 12.5 stops. The log looks unbelievable. You can expose it easily, not like Cinestyle or other flat files. No h.264 codec here. This records to motion jpegs, and the WOW factor goes up when you see how the slight compression to the cards makes it look just like film. This compression, that I have embraced and love, softens the highlights, skin and rounds the 4K capture.

The contrast ratio feels more like a hill than a cliff. Skin tones are absolutely beautiful. Vitality abounds with the Canon’s sensor and color space. I could care less that it is 8 BIT color. I am getting it very close, and Dave Cole, our colorist at Technicolor, had a huge range to deal with. Canon’s 8 BIT feels like 12 BIT with its color space and reproduction.

ISO Range

The effective native ISO of the chip is 400 ISO in Canon Log. There are no native ISOs like the 5D, 7D, and 1D. Through testing, I was able to go to 6400 on the Neutral picture style as well as Canon Log and see the noise that I saw at 1600 ISO on the Canon 5D, which is what 70% of the night photography was shot at on Act of Valor. That noise is minimal. It doesn’t look like the C300 at 6400 ISO, which looks very noisy and a grain texture equal to 5219 pushed two stops, which is marginal. Shooting at 6400 ISO, with minimal noise/grain will shake things up. I felt that it handled the highlights of night photography wonderfully on Canon Log. Holding all detail in color on neon, flo’s, street lamps with no hot burning video looking boca. There was no evidence of sensor pattern in the out of focus highlights that you get from every other camera. It just plain looked like film. This is an A Camera system. Period!!!!

This is just the beginning of a 5 week series about the inner workings of The Ticket. There will be a BTS post, two lighting posts, a producing post and texture process post, so stay tuned. Thank you to Simon Beins and The Three Fishermen for the original song “Those Kisses” on “The Ticket.”

206 comments

Shane, again you and PO deliver an amazing short. I started watching to see what this device could do, but now I have to watch again because the story captivated me, along with the visual storytelling you and your team employed. Amazing.

Also, I have to give a big thanks to Lydia for starting this whole adventure. We are all very fortunate for what you all give to us. I am grateful for all the work that goes into this.

Shane, you are awesome man! I was not sure what to think when I saw the release of this camera. I’ve been shooting TV commercials and Music Videos with the 5D, bought the 5DMKIII and looking towards the future of this breed of camera. I must admit I was a bit surprised by the price point for this DSLR. Obviously, the proof is in the image and Canon approaching you about testing was a no brainer. The film looks amazing! I know I have never posted on your site before, but thanks for all your insight. Very inspiring! Can’t wait to get my hands on this camera!

Jon Roemer, thank you so much for those wonderful words of support. I will pass on your comments to Po, I think she knocked it out. The C300 is a great camera, but holy smoke Batman, this one is pretty impressive.

Wow is all I can say, and that’s without having watched this on a BIG screen. Great job on the cinematography Shane, I feel you truly captured the essence and emotion of the story through the camera. Great story, great acting and an all around great production. Thank you for sharing this short as well as your thoughts on the camera. Looking forward to the rest of the posts.

Hi Shane,
This looked wonderful. Free from all the usual HDSLR tell-tale signs. I can see why you liked using it. Looking at the picture above of you dropping the camera off the balcony I thought ‘What’s he doing now??’. Then I watched the short and I didn’t even notice the trickery in that shot, I was right there with the characters. Thanks to Lydia for all her work and I’m looking forward to reading future posts about ‘The Ticket.’
Oli.

Oli Kember, thank you so much for those kind words my friend. I loved this camera, very powerful tool. I will pass on your thanks to Lydia, she rocks. Many more posts coming your way. The BTS gets launched on Thursday, fun stuff.

Very interesting and exciting. As you stated earlier while talking about AOV…IMMERSION baby! Like never seen before!

My question is this: when shooting at these upper ISO’s and “nuking” the sensor, how do the highlights behave? Do ordinary practicals bloom in a nasty way or are they rolled off nicely like 35mm film? At first glace the upper ISO’s seem pointless as most stuff is lit- unless of course you’re shooting only available light. Thoughts?

Jon Chema, thank you so much for your kind words of support. The highlights roll off just like film, they looked absolutely amazing. I used available light, but added here and there to make it look cinematic and not just shooting with available light. I find you are taking the time now at these higher ISO’s to take light away and then adding little accents to make it special.

This camera will establish the DSLR-Platform in Hollywood. So exciting.
A real game changer!!!

Shane, Did you experienced any sort of Rolling Shutter Problems while shooting with the 1D C???
Just curious, because there seems to be no Rolling Shutter in the final movie. (Even in the shaky shot when the ActionCam is chasing the actors out of the store).
Would be great if there is some improvement compared to the 5D.

The short film you did for this post was amazing! It had me at the edge of my seat the whole way through! It has been great to follow your post on the 1DC as well as Philip Blooms.

Have you heard any news on the price? Last I heard it sits around 15k right now but there was talk of it being lower around 9 to 10k by the time it comes to the market. Would love to know your thoughts on that as well, do you think its worth it to spend 15k on a DSLR that shoots 4k when you have the new Sony NEX FS700 coming out and camera’s like the Red Scarlet that are priced if not the same but lower?

Nathaniel Kohfield, thank you so much for your wind words. Glad you enjoyed it I will pass this onto Po. Not into the pricing game. Not sure where they are headed, just no that what I saw on the screen looked like Kodak 35mm film for the first time.

The Marketing on this one is very strange.
Shane and Canon kept praising the 1D-C like it’s the second coming of the Christ
(just watched the “imagine what’s next” event) when at the same time the way superior C500 is also being presented!??
Is Shane basically saying that the image of the 1D-C is better than the one of the C500? that would be very counterproductive in this case…
Please don’t come a’knocking with “different Cameras for different Jobs” cause the C500 is roughly twice the size making it just as compact & efficient and smokes it’s little brother Specs-wise
(if you have that kind of money in the first place the difference to the C500 won’t matter, and if you’re renting it’s no-brainer as well)

I guess Canon itself doesn’t really know who the target audience is for this overpriced piece of equipment so they try to create a little charade with a well known D.o.p. like Shane to shift focus from the facts

Andrew Wall, for decades we never use one camera to tell a story, Jeff Cronenweth knocked it out with Man and Beast. I felt the C500 delivered an amazing look and feel. The 1DC has its own look and feel. One that I have embraced for over 3 years. To tell a story multiple arrows in your quiver are required, its also depends on the director’s vision and the 1DC is one of those powerful arrows. Shooting 4K all in camera without any external recording device is huge. Shooting film I would shoot on a Panavision Platinum camera for my A Camera, then I would shoot with an Panavision XL for steadicam and B Camera, then an Arri 435 would be my C and D camera for high speed and rigs, then a Arri 235 for action handheld. As a cinematographer these are my personal preferences, but the story will speak to you and tell you what to shoot, always base these choices on the story over the tech.

N.K.Osborne, thank you so much for your wonderful kind words and your support. I will pass this onto Po. I think she rocked it out. Canon has a plan afoot, don’t they always. This is a very powerful tool, that comes with a price. Bob Richardson is one of my mentors. I love his style and composition. He is the master.

Shane, incredible work! One question, and I mean this sincerely. In reading this, it seems like this is the ONLY dslr sized 4k cam in existence, what are your thoughts on this vs epic, from a Dp perspective of course. I’m sure you’ve used epic. Look, no hidden agenda here, just an honest question from a potential buyer, thanks in advance for your response!

Jake Wilganowski, thank you so much for your kind words, the Epic is a tested digital capture device. This is in its infancy,it has all the dslr quirks and you have to know how to shoot DSLR’s, period. Know how to show the camera’s pros and not showing its cons is what I have been working on for over 3 years. But I have to say that in its infancy, the two side by side. The 1DC blows it out.

WOW
This all looks great Shane but have you ever considered shooting on a Cisco FlipCam? I think flip’s censor offers such a better variety and depth of field. Canon is great but Cisco has paved the way since before the T2i. Also on the MinoHD they released a software update that rivals the 5D’s CineStyle! I’d love to hear your thoughts on the Flip, it works wonders for me and my crew
-Ralphie

Hi Shane, I got the chance to pixel peep from the 3rd row at Sunday’s exhibition. A couple of questions…

During the running scene at 4:30 or so I noticed a pretty significant drop in resolution. Was this due to post adding a warp filter to stabilize the footage?

Also, forgive this little bit of criticism… there were several scenes where the focus was soft – like the side of the head was in focus but not the eyes. I think this may be a fatal flaw in the pursuit of 4K – being that this camera has no way of outputting a 4k signal and has no electronic focus assist (peaking), it seems like there’s no way to be absolutely sure visually that you’re in focus. The only way is to rely on markers on the lens. Was this your experience shooting this?

John Hess, That was at 60p which the camera can only shoot 1080p at 60, both Po and I thought it would work well being a dream sequence per say. The shallow focus, was me being a little greedy and not giving my pullers enough stop. We were harnessed with a prototype hand built camera that in Canon log could not go above 1250 ISO. So I had to stay in the 2.0 range which is daunting task for a focus puller. Now this has been rectified and the camera now will go to 6400 ISO with minimal noise in Canon Log. Tip of the spear, bleeding edge.

Congratulations to you and your wife for building such a great business. It’s like they say “behind every good man is a great woman!”

What are you throughts on the GH2 (hacked) Vs the Canon 5D – as far as film/cinema look? There are some new feature films coming out shot with the GH2 and they look impressive. Just wanted to get your feedback.

Thanks Shane. I appreciate it. We own 2 Canon DSLRs and are planning on using them for an upcoming feature film.

My wife is a partner in my business as well, so I know what it’s like to have a great wife behind you.

As a side note: I think you would do well adding a paid membership site as part of your whole education package. I have a best selling book on Amazon.com on the topic of membership sites. Let me know if you’re interested. Happy to mail you a copy of my book.

Hello Shane,
This is amazing. Love this. I was waiting to hear impressions of a respected person like you. Good to know that the 1D C blows away the Epic and the F65. Any idea if Canon is going to include 25p at 4K at some later date. I am thinking of using this for wildlife. Thanks once again for your impressions and the wonderful film.

Hi Shane: great work AS ALWAYS….You have no idea how you have been inspiring me in these years…Your joy is kind of contagious…Anyway…A quick question: this camera looks great, have you noticed any 24p weird flickering? Thanks and have a great day! Manuel

blows away the epic??? wow, if that is true then this is better than anyone sees at the moment. epic is the only choice for vfx and green screen shoots. if this camera at 15k beats the epic at 70k, then we have a big problem, well canon does, because they are going to be back ordered for a long time!

Thanks man 🙂 A true indie is just like that: a true indie. Cameras are only tools, we and them, both serve what only matters, i.e. the pictures produced by the combination 🙂 No elitist BS improper of moviemakers, you and your free/rebel spirit are an inspiration! God bless you!!

All I wanted to say was already said in previous posts!
Great piece, a little sad to watch in the morning 🙂
Besides that, everything else is great,and what else can be expected from Hurlbut Visuals and Po Chan.
Gorgeous!

Sorry, but what all this proves, for the nth time, is that technological development, and the skill of DPs and crews, is so far surpassing the writing and storytelling abilities of writer/directors — not to mention a disastrous TV-derived norm for “good acting”, that it all begins to seem pointless.

Ahh! Very excited about the camera and your review of it makes my cinematographer insides all warm and fuzzy. The video on vimeo says it “doesn’t exist” though! Any other place we can check it out?? Thanks for taking the time to write the great review and I can’t wait to check out your work on The Ticket!

Looks very good!!
Just wonder… does this camera overheat?? The C500 seams to have a big cooling system… This one doesn’t. Love the form format though. I shot RED, Panavision Alexa Arriflex etc etc… But last big documentary, which one it’s first award.. on a Canon 5D MKII. Love the small size for this kind of work.
Cheers, Arie.

Arie van Dam. Thank you so much, the hand made prototype did overheat once on us. I have already talked with the Canon engineers and they are working on this as we speak. They will have things dialed in before the release in the fall. The form factor is amazing. The color depth and sensitivity is amazing.

cynthia, you are very welcome, it is our pleasure to give back to this amazing community, fuel the revolution. Go with the Mark III, the bugs are getting worked out and the sensor does not skip lines which is a big deal with moire.

I was great to see “The Ticket” in the Canon 4K theater at NAB. The picture looked amazing and the story was great! Congrats to you and the rest of the team that worked on the short.

Before the announcement of the 1DC I was leaning towards investing in a C300 as the 5D2 feature “Absentia” checks start coming in. Now I am really leaning towards 1DC since according to Canon the still capabilities are the same as the 1DX. We live in really exciting times!

Perhaps, if you had shot it on Panavision Platinum and used your choice of glass and Kodak stock, there would have been a complaint that it doesn’t look enough like DSLR. We live in odd expansive times, and there aren’t many definitive answers. You are brave to even look at the comments, but always nice to see your work.

Keith Lanpher, I teand to not do what people expect. Everyone told me Act of Valor was not possible. You have to go out of your comfort zone to push yourself as an artist. Period!!! the old way is about to be nuked.

Out of all the footage I’ve seen from new cameras that have come out in the last year, this is by far the most impressive. I’m still trying to figure out how many CF card changes would be required for a long day of shooting??? I’m probably still going to buy the 5D MK III, but this will definitely be the tool I plan on renting for my A Cam. THIS is what I’ve been looking for. A hearty thanks to you and your whole crew and post team for showcasing it’s so well.

Marc B., Thank you so much for your kind words of support. It is 4GB a minute so a 64GB card will give you 16 minutes. We had Lexar cards that recorded at 1000mb/sec and even up to 128GB which would give you 32 minutes. The post workflow is really easy. Firewire card reader. I will pass on the kudos to the team

It looks like the 1DC won’t be released till around October, so I assume Canon will put more finishing touches on the camera based on feedback from the field.

Your energy and your team’s enthusiasm for the camera is so contagious in a good way it makes me feel the sky is the limit too.

I’m very interested in the 1DC 1080 24/25/60/50p sharpness compared to the C300 in either RAW workflow or through CF cards and in the absence of any other hands on examples please may I ask your take? Is the 1DC as sharp at 1080 compared to the C300 or at least is it close?

Naturally at 4K it’s very very sharp as is mentioned in the BTS and I noticed some comments re The Ticket saying the 1080 vision seemed fairly soft, a comment I suspect might be a little unfair.

Im also really curious to see the HD1080p, especially recorded out through hdmi to something like an Atomos Ninja in prores. For $15, 000 I would expect it to be as sharp as the c300 and for it to have similar latitude with c-log. I’d be disappointed with anything less.

Charles Brepsant, thank you so much for your kind words. Yes, we did that all in post. Dave Cole at technicolor who was our colorist, isolated her skin buy using the Luster roto tool and sucked the life out of her skin.

Incredible story. Very moving and powerful- the visuals did everything to bolster that. How much of this did you light and how much would you say was just shot with available light? The Ferris wheel and rest of pier looked incredible! Also, what are the perks of using that “revolution” head on steadicam?

Jon Chema, thank you so much for your kind words, I will pass this onto Po Chan. I would say that nothing I shoot is available. I am not that DP. This is the biggest disservice you can do to HD. The image always requires a little zing, a stinger, and accent. I shot available in the car but added a small Rosco Panel Light. I shot with available light on the street, but added little out of focus peppers and tweenies with color on them in the BG as well as Flo’s in doorways when they run down the street. The advantage of the Revolution rig is that the camera can move from 4.5 inches to 9.5 feet in one move. Very powerful tool. Whole different steadicam language

Shane,
What a fine and revealing review. I shot the 5DMKII for 4 years and used the 5DMKIII on a train in the same low light environment as I shot the 5DMKII and I was really blown away at how much more detail I could bring out.
For the last 8 years we’ve taken a private train and set up the club car for live musical performances with a professional audio stage and lighting. This time, we were blessed to have Tom Russell, Ramblin Jack Elliott, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Jonny Langford and Thad Beckman on the train for 6 days of concerts and seminars. I shot fron about 60 feet back above the heads of the audience with a 70-200mm Canon lens at 2.8 At 2500ISO and 30 speed and 4.0, I was getting by using the 5DMKII. The 5DMKIII allowed me to shoot at 8.0 instead of 4.0. The extra depth of field allowed me to keep all the musicians in focus all the time. The quality is really an improvement.
I will be buying a 4X when they come out even if it’s to archive the performances until 4x is more available to the consumer.
Shane, in your discussions with Canon, do you expect a new format above Blu_Ray to handle this resolution anytime soon? Thank you so very much. Peace, Joe Ray Skrha

What was “The Ticket ” edited on, was it edited with Premiere Pro CS 5.5 or what. It looks so darn good. It must be because it was shot in 4K. Great work and great camera. Keep up the great work as you always do.

The shots in the cab made me do a double take. Wow.
The only tell tale sign of digital was in the horizontal banding from the florescent lights (7D shooters will recognize the 1 second giveaway). I was thoroughly engrossed in the story thereafter (which means you did your job).

Hey Shane, great meeting you, Lydia and Doug at the Supermeet this year – hope you had a chance to unwind a bit at the AJA party. So glad I was able to see The Ticket in the Canon theater – superb job and the best stop at NAB! Changed me from thinking Canon was nuts pricing the 1D C at 15k to thinking this is the biggest bargain at the show – just love the image and the fact that I don’t have to record to an outboard device and don’t have to give up the DSLR form factor to get insane imagery! Ironic I was hosting the C500/KiProQUAD in the AJA booth all week and thinking I don’t think I’ll ever use this… I want my 1D C!

Hey Shane! Now that you’ve had two amazing posts– one on the C300 and one now on the 1DC, being the price point for both of them is so close, I’d love to know what you feel the pros/cons of each of them are. The obvious I’d imagine is the 4K capability of the 1DC and slightly smaller body, but I’ve heard nothing but absolute raves over the C300 from DPs I’ve spoken with.

Great work on “The Ticket”.
Your style is quite influential to my work and I love your eye for light & composition,
especially in this piece, as well as your decisions on how the camera moved through space.

My question(s) to you:
Based on the charts provided at the top of the article, and screenshots of the camera’s menu,
With the 1D-C, are you only able to shoot at 4K, with the sensor cropped to S35?
Or is 4K only available in APS-H mode, in which you’ll need lenses that’ll cover full frame,
and you can’t use the Canon Cinema Lenses, or any non full-frame cine lens in 4K mode?
If not, do you know if Canon will implement S35 4K onto their production 1D-C?

Also, I know the internet’s compression doesn’t do the camera justice,
so how does the 4K footage intercut with the 1080p footage?

4k can only be captured on a APS-H crop.
All of the Canon EF lens will handle Full Frame including the new Cine Primes. So you still have all the lens choices that you had with the 5D Mark II plus the Cine Primes.

Only the Cine Zooms will not cover APS-H. Even then you could use them but you might vignette at wider settings. We used the 24mm and 50mm a lot on The Ticket, and the image was tack sharp from edge to edge.

You would have to ask Canon about implementing S35 4K onto the production 1D-C. But one of the greatest things about HDSLR’s is the large sensor, so anything bigger than S35 gives the image a shallower DOF and allows me to control where the audiences eye goes and how the image will tell the story.

Shane, thanks for the wonderful “review”, even though it wasn’t really a review :-). I know you were at the AJA exhibits and party at NAB. Any thoughts on the Ki Pro Quad and 1Dc 4k workflow? Thanks, Hal

It is not the same price when you start buying the basic add ons.
I love scarlet and epic, but i have done a profile of the gears and accesories and at the end the 1d-c is around 60 to 70 % of the cost of a scarlet

I just saw “the ticket” and my mouth is still open, what a good piece of art work. I love the picture quality and I think this camera (Canon I dc) has created a new generations of films to come. I love how you have used camera techniques to tell the story and give it an image that already speaks volume with having to listen to the sound of the story. I have seen the bts too and what a cache of equipment you have. I want to know where can i get the electronic clapper slate that you used and the special steadicam with a revolition head.

Shane, great job with “The Ticket”. What an exciting camera! I have two questions based on ambiguities I perceived (perhaps wrongly) in the text describing the 1DC on the B&H web page. First, is it possible to record in 4K to an external source, or only to the internal cards? And second, does the autofocus function in video mode (though I know most filmmakers would never use this, I am curious as to whether the feature is available at all, as with some of the lower end cameras). Thank you so much for your time!

Thank you very much for your prompt reply. I wonder also whether you were given a chance to experiment with either of Canon’s new Cinema Zoom lenses. I am trying to understand what $42,000 buys you for an EF mount camera. Thanks again so much!

Ron, those are the cards that we prefer. Yes shot all of the short film and the test on them.

Gary BrownNovember 9, 2012 - 10:49 AM

Hi Shane

Thanks for having the generosity of spirit to share your knowledge, workflows, vision and experience. My cinematography and the landscape in general is better for it.

I’ve pre-ordered a 1DC here in the UK and not having had my hands on it yet I wondered if you have a view on using older manual exposure lenses on it? I have a set of 1970’s Canon still primes that have been de-clicked and cine converted with new EF back ends. Based on your experience, image quality aside, do you foresee any problems exposing manually?

Shane, do you know if the 1d-c will be released in Europe with 4K MJPEG in 25fps? If not, how would you deal with the electrical voltage differences? I mean wouldn’t shooting in 24fps cause flicker when shooting outside, because of the electrical differences? I hope you understand what I’m trying to say?

Mike, the camera as it stands now will not do 25fps. And yes it will flicker when shooting inside and or outside if you have fluorescents in the background. You can help this a little by changing the HZ select to 50 which is what your country is. I would test that before you go buy one of these babies.

Shane, Thank you for a great blog.
About the no-go on 25, ok it’s for cinema, but as I understand it the 24fps is not a true 24, but rather the NTSC-TV land friendly framerate of 23,976fps – is this true, and if it is and they do intend it for “Cinema”, why is there no option for a true 24? (or is this possibly what you are referring to above in another post that switching the camera system to PAL will help slightly in reducing fluorescent flickering in 50Hz countries – does the PAL system setting flip the 23,976 to a true 24?)
Kind regards
Joachim

Just one question. the 1D-C from specs only outputs 1080 60i/50i/24p via HDMI; does it means that I cannot use an external recorder to record 50p (PAL) for a slow motion sequences? Am I stuck with the internal ALL-I codec?

Hi Shane, really thank you for your honest answers. What I want to know is say that I buy a Canon 1d-c shoot 4K but want 2:40.1 crop, how do I set this? Can I do this in camera? Set guidelines? Or can I set this on the actual monitor? How would you do? Also If I write “physical” markers on the 1d-c screen for 2:40.1 crop, how would I do that?

Mike, you are very welcome. There are no lines that you can turn on. You have to do in manually. We use an EVF to generate the 2:40 aspect lines, or just tape the back LCD and your lighting monitor. We do this by creating a 2:40 framing chart. Then put in on a wall, then lens up the camera so that it fills the left and right side of the screen and you then mark you top and bottom frame line off of the chart. Hope this helps

Shane WHAT ABOUT Battery life in 4k mode cant find info on web ,great info on 1dc, TECH SHEETS on paper are nice, but ultimately its the final picture that counts and the less workarounds you have to endure to get a film made.

No external monitor for a 4k picture, lightwieght DSLR form factor, a canon company to backup the camera not an upstart company.

Shane im almost sold on this or c100,

WHAT is battery life if shooting in 4k, realistically how long will camera last if shooting in 4k and how much are replacement batteries, i ask because it would be amazing to carry a full days of batteries in a pocket for a shoot for cheap as opposed to battery external mounts

Jay C, the camera battery life is very good. I would say on 4K you could shoot most of the day on 3 batts. The camera has all the quirks of a DSLR but the most cinematic of all the cameras on the market. The 1DC and C100 are in two different leagues. One is for cinema and the other for weddings

First and foremost, thank you for the excellent information you and your team provide.

Regarding battery life, here is the info directly from Canon (keep in mind it will be a bit less if you use IS lenses):

Movie Shooting Battery Life
4K: 1 hr. 25 min. at 73°F / 23°C

1 hr. 15 min. at 32°F / 0°C

Full HD (30 fps, ALL-I): 2 hr. 10 min. at 73°F / 23°C

2 hr. at 32°F / 0°C

Some questions I have:

1. On page 38 of the manual, “Even if [Record func.] is set to [Auto Switch Card] the card cannot be switched automatically during movie shooting mode.” I was under the impression that with a 12 hour continuous movie mode that spanned clips would be possible. Does that mean it will not automatically start recording to the second card when the first one fills up?

1B. If it is possible, are the NLE’s (Avid specifically) able to stitch together the spanned clips?

2. On page 44 of the manual, “When Canon Log gamma is set, vertical noise stripes may appear in movies depending on subject or shooting conditions.” Well, that doesn’t sound good. Did you experience this (specifically in low light, like your ferris wheel shots)? What are the workaround options (I imagine, add light or change out of Canon Log, but I’d like your opinion)?

3. Does your MCS Cage allow space for the Canon GPS attachment GP-E1?

3B. I want to attach the MCS cage to a different baseplate, is this possible yet, if not what is the ETA?

Matthew Marzano. Thank you so much for the kind words,information and support. Here are the answers to your questions.

1. To my knowledge it will automatically switch from one card to another. The protocol for the elite team though was to only shoot on one card at a time to play it safe and better data management. Each card reflecting the a separate “roll”.

1B. Just like the C300 and 5DMkIII there should be a Plug in when the Camera is released for the different NLE’s to stitch the clips together.

2. Canon log on the 1DC provides increased dynamic range, but can’t be pushed into the higher ISO’s like the Neutral setting. It comes down to knowing how far you can push the camera. From testing I found that Log can be pushed to 1600-3200 ISO max without noticing fixed pattern noise, and Neutral as high as 6400 ISO.

3. The MCS cage does not allow space for the Canon GPS attachment GP-E1.

3B. All cages (except for the 1Dx/DC) can be attached directly onto a tripod and therefore if any baseplate that mimic the attachment of a tripod would work.

You got it!!! The Real Film Look. Not emulated. That is what we can get only with Canon EOS DSLR and Raw Cine-cameras. Mr Hurlbut,you’ve the vision of a real cinematographer: finally a man who can see the difference.
Many prosumer cameras are emulating the look,even the C100/C300 are to me too “videoish” .But when i take a look a DSLR (and the 1DC is really Amazing) i see the -feeling- of film: not too sharpened image,dynamic range,soft shadows,three dimensional 24p image,beautiful nuances of color.
Great educational pages Shane,keep the very good work! and thank you for sharing your experience to all aspiring filmmakers. I’ll follow you on Youtube,Twitter etc. Great this pages too.
Love “The Skulls” (i’m also a Randy Edelman composer fan) & Terminator Salvation photography. I’ve not seen Act of Valor,but the Blu Ray will be in my home soon. And “The Ticket” is absultely gorgeous.

Justin Teichen. What we did is take the AC adapter for the 1DC and do a power step down so we can take Anton Power 13volt power and step it down to the voltage of the camera. This gives you a days worth of shooting instead of swapping batteries. Thank you for the kind words and support.

Shane, thanks for sharing your experience and knowledge. I recently acquired the 1DC and was wondering if you could provide more detail on how to use the 1DC AC adapter and step down power in order to use an Anton Bauer. I would love to be able to power my camera all day from one battery. Is there rewiring involved or other adapters that need to be incorporated in the process or can I just buy the 1DC AC adapter and plug it directly into the Anton Bauer?